An increasing amount of devices within a residence, a place of business or the like may be capable of wireless connection to the Internet. Moreover, such devices include one or more sensors for capturing data and the data is then communicated, via the Internet, to a third-party entity for various purposes. Such a network environment is commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). For example, appliances (e.g., televisions, washer/dryer, refrigerators or the like) within a residence may provide for wireless Internet connectivity and may communicate data, such as performance data, warranty data, and the like to third-party entities, such as manufacturers, warranty services, exhaustible part suppliers and the like. Such communication of data by Internet-connected devices typically occurs on a continual automatic basis without the knowledge of the device users. Moreover, the user of the device has no control over which entities data is communicated to and/or what data is communicated to which entities. This can especially problematic in the instance in which a payment token/credential is communicated to merchant (e.g., for replenishing exhaustible parts in an appliance); however, for security reasons, the user does not the payment token/credential communicated along with other data to other third-party entities, such as a manufacturer, a warranty service or the like.
Therefore, a need exists to develop systems, apparatus and the like for allowing a user to customize the communication of data from Internet-connected devices, such as those devices within an IoT environment. Specifically, the desired systems, apparatus and the like should automated determination of which devices are communicating to which third-party entities. Moreover, once such information is known, the desired systems, apparatus and the like should provide for managing the communications from such devices, such that, a user can select to prohibit (i.e., block) or limit which data is communicated to which third-party entities. In addition, the desired systems, apparatus and the like should allow for the user to select additional third-party entities for data communication and select what data or data types are communicated to the additional third-party entities. Moreover, the desired systems, apparatus and the like should provide for authenticating/verifying the identity of third-party entities so that the user can be assured that data is being communicated to the intended third-party entity.